Stacking tote box



A. F. ERICKSON.

STACKING TOTE BOX.

APPLICATION FILED APII.26. 191s.

,992, PatentedJune 27, 1922.

n u u OFFICE.l

AXEL F. ERICKSON, OF AURORA, ILIiINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 ALLSTEELEQUIP COMPANY, 0F AURORA, ILLINOIS, VA CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

STACKING .TOTE BOX.

Specification ofLetters Patent. Patented J une 27, 1922.

Application led April 26, 1919. Serial No. 292,829.

To all 'whomy t may concern Be it known that I, AxnL F. ERICKSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements ,in Stacking Tote Boxes, of which the following 1s aspecication.

My invention relates to tote boxes which are employed both in manufacturing and merchandising establishmentsv for convenience in the handling, sorting and storage of quantities of articles of manufacture or merchandise. y

The objects of my said invention` are the production from sheet-metal of a strong and serviceable article of this character.

which will have sufficient strength and a suitable novel design to permit of any number of such boxes being stacked, the one upon the other, thereby greatly facilitating their use in the storage of the articles handled in them, and which will also render them easier and more convenient for manual transfer from place to place, inditwo boxes in stacked relation. 40

Figure 3 is a perspective view of one corner of the box. b Figure 4 is a longitudinal section of a In the drawings I have employed similar reference characters to designate lthe same parts throughout the divers views. The bottom 5, side walls, 6, 6, and rear and front `Walls 7 and v8 may be made from an integral blank of metal` or the bottom and the opposite side Walls may be made of a single blank and the front and rear walls or side walls as preferred, may be cut separately and secured to the bottom andadjacent walls by welding or in any other desirable manner. At a suitable distance from the 'additional stiffness to the structure and to furnish a channel 13 for the receipt of a reinforcing metal strap 14. T he reinforcement may be in the foim of a continuous strap, as shown in Figure 1, or it may consist of right-angle corner pieces 15, which extend into the channels 13 and aresuitably secured therein as shown'in Figure 3.

The structure as thus described, by reason of the rigidity secured through the employment of the channeled upper edges in connection with the reinforcement strap or `straps, may, by the 4use of material of suite' able gage, be made as dependably strong as desired for any weight ofmaterial, but the style of construction above described permits the vertical walls of my box to be slightly inclined inwardly towards their tops, which permits of the securing of greater strength without increasing the gage of the material employed and which also assists in bringing the horizontal shoulders or shelves 11 ina position to receive a greater extent of the bottom of a similar tote-box which might be stacked thereon. I have indicated the relation of the inward inclination of the walls to their vertical disposition by means of the broken'lines win Figure 2 of the drawings for the purpose of clearness.

yFor the purpose of further stiiening the structure and also for providing runners thereon, to facilitate sliding the boxes from place to place, I provide longitudinally outwardly curved corrugations 16, 16, in the bottom, which are. not extendedsuilicicntly l trated handles 18 secured either to the front or back, or both, of the boxes, which are of advantage, but in no Wise necessary, as the presence of the shoulders l1 afford convenient means for grasping and lifting the box.

While I have herein illustrated and described certain specific means for carrying out my invention, it, of course, will be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the precise structure, for modifications or refinements thereof are possible Without materially departing from the principles in volved.V I therefore desire it understood that such changes are contemplated as being Within the scope of my appended claim.

WhatI claim as new is A metal tote-box comprising a rectangular bottom, parallel reinforcing members eX- tending longitudinally thereof to provide runners therefor, end and side Walls arising l from the longitudinal and transverse edges of said bottom; said Walls being inclined inwardly toward their tops, L-shaped flanges extending longitudinally along the upper portions of said Walls the horizontal portions of which flanges providing outwardly extended shelves upon the four sides of the box whereby to support a superposed boX and the vertical portions of said flanges being disposed at right angles to said shelves whereby to retain the superposed box against lateral movement, turned-back portions along the upper edges of said flanges providing U-shaped channels; said flangesbeing spaced from each other at their ends, and a strip of metal inserted in said channels and extended around the ends of the flanges to close the spaces between their ends.

Signed at Aurora, county of Kane and State of Illinois, this 31st day of March, 1919.

AXEL F. ERICKSON.

Witnesses :l

ADAM I. BACKES, JOHN E. CARR. 

